


it's you and me, there's nothing like this

by amyscascadingtabs



Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: Amusement Parks, B99 Fall 2019 Fic Exchange, F/M, Flashbacks, Fluff, Halloween, Humor, One Shot, Prompt Fill
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-20 17:58:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21285830
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyscascadingtabs/pseuds/amyscascadingtabs
Summary: “I still don’t get the point of why you would pay someone to scare you,” Amy mutters, rubbing her arms and jumping up and down on the place to keep herself warm. “The real-life world is plenty terrifying. Climate change. Racism. US Politics. I could go on and on.”“Because it’sfun, and while the things you mentioned are hella scary, they make for awful costumes,” Jake pointed out, already shrugging off his leather jacket to drape it across her shoulders. “I mean, how would you even dress up as climate change?”(Jake and Amy, and a yearly Halloween tradition.)
Relationships: Jake Peralta/Amy Santiago
Comments: 19
Kudos: 65





	it's you and me, there's nothing like this

**Author's Note:**

  * For [packrat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/packrat/gifts).

> hey ell!!! i am your writer for the b99 2019 fall fic exchange! i apologise for waiting until the last minute to write this, eheh, but it's here now! i chose your prompt "the season of spooky stuff and one of them hating everything horror related and one being the protector" and took the freedom of incorporating it into this little thing. hope you enjoy! ❤︎ 
> 
> happy halloween to you all! i do not and have never really celebrated it, but last year i did go to a halloween theme park and it was AWESOME, and i definitely thought it'd be the kind of thing jake and amy would do together.
> 
> disclaimer: this is a work of fiction, and my view and portrayal of the cops in b99 is not an accurate representation of how i feel about the actual nypd and police. it is not meant and has never been meant to be viewed as such, and it is my deepest wish that you do not use these characters and these portrayals as a way to affect your feelings about police in real life. thank you.

**2015**

The first time Jake had tried to bring Amy to the Halloween theme park, she had started out skeptical about the idea.

“Just because we’re dating now doesn’t mean I like Halloween,” she remarked over breakfast as he suggested his plan for their shared Saturday off. “I still think it's a ridiculous holiday.”

“So… the best kind of holiday.”

She rolled her eyes over the edge of the coffee cup. “Can't you go to this park with Charles?”

“I don’t want to go with Charles! I want to go with my adorable girlfriend, who, by the way, is looking stunning in that outfit.” He pointed to what was definitely his flannel currently being donned by Amy, who had paired it with pajama pants and a fuzzy blanket from his couch wrapped around her shoulders. “Also, does this mean you’re stealing my clothes now?”

“It means your apartment is cold all the time,” she said, but her smirk made him suspect he wasn’t totally wrong, either. “Why is this so important to you, anyway?”

“You’re going to think I’m ridiculous.”

“Try me.”

“Fine,” he hummed, rubbing the nape on his neck and looking down at the table to avoid eye contact. “Because it’s technically a holiday tradition that doesn’t bring up shitty memories, and I don’t have a ton of those. I was thinking it’d be kind of nice to share one with you?” He could feel his cheeks heating as he admitted the truth. In their five months of dating, he’d already had to face more emotional vulnerability than ever before in his life, but it had yet to get easier. “Sorry. It’s, uh, stupid.”

“It’s not stupid.” Her fingers wrapped around his wrist, stroking it until he looked up at her, finding her watching him with a tenderhearted gaze that was still new to him, but never failed to make him feel safe with every fiber of his being. “It’s sweet. And okay. I’ll go with you.”

If he’d been a little bit braver, he could have told her he loved her at this moment, and thinking back at it months later, he would regret that he didn’t.

Instead, he’d simply returned her smile. “Noice. Smort.”

She rolled her eyes at him another time. He sort of found it absolutely endearing.

**2019**

This year, he’s not even the one to suggest their yearly visit. Amy brings it up all on her own as they’re going to bed on a Friday evening, her yawning wide before scooting closer to him, intertwining their legs and pressing kisses to the back of his neck to gain his attention.

“Do we have any plans for tomorrow, babe?”

“I don’t think so,” he mumbles, closing his eyes and just enjoying the way her lips feel against his neck, the way her hands gently rub patterns on his shoulder blades. “Anything you’re thinking about?”

“I was thinking maybe we should go to that Halloween park,” she says, and it warms his heart to hear her sounding genuinely excited at the thought. “If you want to.”

“Well, I could never say no to the Halloween park.”

“Or to me, I hope, since it’s _our_ yearly tradition.”

“Nah, it’s harder to say no to the park,” he teases her, and she punches him hard in the elbow. “Ow! I was kidding!”

“Don’t you dare,” she laughs, pressing a kiss to the same spot. “It’s a date, then. And my goal for this year is to not get terrified by the haunted houses.”

**2016**

Jake had missed many things while in witness protection in Florida. His girlfriend first and foremost, but also the Nine-Nine, New York pizza, weather that wasn’t either scorching sun or heavy storms, and the Halloween park. It had been one of the dreams he’d thought about during his worst evenings of homesickness; he and Amy, walking around the overly decorated area while holding hands and looking at all the kids and adults in costumes, pointing out ones they recognized.

(“Look, Jake, that’s a tiny Harry Potter!)

(“_Ames_! That woman’s dressed like Holly Gennaro from Die Hard!”)

It felt like a dream to actually _be back_, walking hand in hand much like he’d pictured and standing in line to one of the haunted houses. It felt like home.

“I still don’t get the point of why you would pay someone to scare you,” Amy mutters, rubbing her arms and jumping up and down on the place to keep herself warm. “The real-life world is plenty terrifying. Climate change. Racism. US Politics. I could go on and on.”

“Because it’s _fun_, and while the things you mentioned are hella scary, they make for awful costumes,” Jake pointed out, already shrugging off his leather jacket to drape it across her shoulders. “I mean, how would you even dress up as climate change?”

“Don’t show up to the party and claim you’re dressed as the extinction of humans due to our planet becoming inhabitable.”

“Oooh, that’s actually pretty genius.”

“I know,” she winked. “Let’s go in and pretend to get scared by stuff that isn’t really scary, shall we?”

She’d taken back what she’d said about one minute in. The makeup and costumes of the actors were _far_ more convincing than even Jake had expected, way better than it had been last year, and he hadn’t been able to blame Amy for the way she clutched herself to his arm as they made their way through the building. Her nails had pressed so hard through his shirt they’d almost made marks, but he hadn’t minded it. Getting to be her protector, even if only for a seven-minute walk through an amusement park’s over-budgeted version of a haunted house, felt like a privilege.

**2019**

She promises him at least another five times before they even get in line that this is the year she won’t get scared. She’s so confident, staring him down every time she repeats it, that eventually, he tells her he believes her. His gut feeling says otherwise, but the smug grin on his wife’s face as he tells her the white lie is cute enough to make the dishonesty worth it.

“Climate change is scarier than ever,” she declares as they step foot into the house, and he chuckles at her. “This has got nothing on it.”

She ends up taking back her self-assured statement a few minutes in for the fifth year in a row. Jake is getting truly curious about what kind of budget the park’s makeup department is working with, and he has to admit there are a few things executed well enough to make him jump. Amy squeezes his arm tightly, letting him lead their way through, and he basks in the glorious sensation of feeling like there are times when he can be her protector, too - god knows she’s good at being his when he needs it. She’s squeezing a _little_ hard, and her nails feel a _little_ sharper than usual, but it’s fine.

It’s dark inside the building, but he feels her warm breath near his neck and turns around to see what she’s doing only to find someone other than Amy there; an actor with a black, hairy mask over their face that seems to have no concept of _personal space_ whatsoever. Even though it’s what he tends to keep teasing his wife for, he yelps and bolts for the emergency exit, almost tackling a stranger on the way out.

He’s still breathing hard when Amy comes out too, laughing as she throws her arms around him.

“That was awful,” he mumbles as she tries to calm down from the giggling fit. “That was so scary. Where the hell did you go?”

“Where the hell did _you_ go?”

“I thought I was right there with you!”

“I thought I was right there _with you_!”

“Let’s maybe not go back in there,” he suggests, and she shakes her head.

“Let’s maybe not.”

**2017**

The year they got engaged, he learned another fact about Amy Santiago - while she may have hated the haunted houses, she was a major fan of the rides. Unfortunately, this included the rides even Jake was hesitant to go on, like the attractions that went _way too high up_ in the air and dropped _way too low, way too fast. _

“Come on,” she had encouraged him, shooting him that smile that never failed to make his knees weak and pulling his arm towards the line. “It’s perfectly safe. I’ll let you hold my hand.”

“I can hold your hand on the ground,” he pouted. “I much prefer that option.”

“Come on, babe! Just one time!”

“I hate you,” he’d told her as they stood in line, repeating it as they were being strapped to their seats, making her roll her eyes both times. “I love you, but right now, I hate you.”

He’d been able to see more of Coney Island from the top of the ride than he’d ever wanted to see in his life, and then, just as he was about to freak out about the height, the ride dropped.

The scream that ripped from his throat shocked even himself, because it was a sound of pure and utter panic, but amid that panic, he’d found beauty.

He was alive. He was a free man. He could be outside to do these kinds of things with his soon-to-be fiancée, instead of being locked in for fifteen years arrested for a bank robbery he didn’t commit, and it felt beautiful.

“Did you enjoy it?” Amy asked as they walked away from the attraction, his legs a lot shakier than her, but her hair looking way crazier than his did.

He’d grinned before cupping her face, bringing their lips together. “Weirdly, I kind of did.”

**2019**

Every year, he hopes she won't insist on going on the rides, that she's changed her mind just this time. Every year, he's dead wrong as she takes his hand to steer him decisively toward the ride he's learned to detest with his entire being.

“You don't think I could skip it for just one year?” He asks, gulping as he looks up at the massive construction, but Amy shakes her head.

“Tradition is tradition, babe. We’re doing this.”

“Do you have to get revenge on me every damn year just because I drag you through the haunted house?”

“You got it.”

“You are a terrible person,” he sighs, but it's impossible to keep his tone serious.

She kisses his cheek. “All is fair in Halloween theme parks, love, and war.”

“Is that the saying, really?”

Every year, he thinks he's gotten used to the horrifying attraction. Every year, he finds out he's wrong. There's no getting used to the relentless shakiness as they're taken closer and closer to the top, the tension when they are there knowing they're about to fall any second, the spine-chilling drop in his stomach when they fall.

He survives it, and he supposes every experience helps him understand why this is something people like his wife will do for fun. He feels alive, almost frightfully so, his heart pounding and breath shaking but his instincts so on edge. He feels real, and although it's hard to stand on his legs when the ride finally finishes, it's worth it when he gets to turn to Amy and find her looking genuinely impressed by him. She looks a little pale after this year’s ride, asking him if they can sit down for a few minutes afterward, but when he asks if she enjoyed it, there's no hiding her beaming grin.

**2018**

The year they had gotten married, they'd competed in the pentathlon games. They’d tried a few of them before, but this was the year they dialed their competitiveness up to the max, offering each other no leniency as they ran between the different game stations. Rifle shooting had been the most even, electronic darts the least - Amy claimed he’d tried to sabotage her by tickling her shortly before, making it difficult to keep her arm still - and their opinions on whether or not Jake’s moving basketball net was rigged to his disadvantage differed drastically, but through it all, they’d been enjoying themselves. It might not have seen that way to everyone else judged from their bickering and borderline unserious threats, but to Jake and Amy, this was love.

This was going back to their old rival days for a short while, to the memories of constantly trying to beat and outdo one another, before returning to reality and realizing they’d already won the greatest prize of all; each other.

(The giant stuffed frog that Jake had won at one of the stations, handed to him by a mysteriously silent employee with the name tag ‘Craig’, was a close second. It _croaked_ if you pressed a button.)

Counting all the results together, the final conclusion was that Amy had won, and Jake laughed heartily at her as she did as expressive of a dork dance as he’d ever seen her do in public. After all, it was hard for him to feel much like a loser in anything as long as she was around.

“Loser buys hot cider and cinnamon donuts?” She’d suggested with a kiss to the tip of his nose.

“We share bank accounts, babe.”

“It’s the gesture that counts,” she’d insisted then, and there’d been no way for him to decline.

**2019**

His wife is unstoppable this year as well. Jake ends up doing far worse in several stations than he knows he’s capable of, the competitiveness dialing down as he realizes there’s no way for him to win now. Instead, Jake simply watches Amy in her element.

She’s so focused, so precise, so thought-through when she’s confident in her abilities. She’ll tuck her hair behind her ears like even a single strand could be the thing to sabotage her chances, bite her lip, stare down the task or target and tackle it right on, instinctive and calculated at the same time.

It is moments like these when he struggles to believe there was ever a time when he wasn’t with her, a time when he wasn’t blessed with the opportunity to get to watch her like this, without any sense of guilt or inadequacy.

She’s stellar, a piece of art much like the paintings she studied for several years at university, and he gets to live his life with her.

He gets to go to Halloween theme parks year after year with her as company. He gets to have her clutching on tight to his arm through haunted houses. He gets to sit next to her as they go on rides he thinks no sane human should be willingly exposing themselves to. He gets to be with her and hers all at once, and every year, every month, and every day, it keeps getting better.

“Did you even try to win this year?” She asks, curiously, as they’re walking towards the donut stand.

“Nah,” he shrugs. “I already won.”

“... Wow. Marriage _really_ did a number on you when it comes to cheesiness, huh?” Her voice is teasing, but the little laugh, the tenderness in her eyes, is not.

“I have my days,” he says, placing an arm around her shoulders. “Winner buys the donuts this year?”

“A for effort, but they’re still on you.”

“Two hot ciders, two cinnamon donuts, and one box of donut holes, please.”

“Actually,” Amy pipes up as the teenaged cashier punches in their order. “I think I’ll have a hot chocolate instead.”

“Changing a winning concept,” Jake comments. “That’s bold of you.”

“Creating a new one,” she corrects him. “Gotta keep it interesting.”

~

As much as he loves all the crazy things they get up to on their visits, laughing their way through the day, Jake has to admit he loves the final part most. They’re sitting close together on a bench overlooking the water, drinking their cider and hot chocolate and enjoying the sugary baked goods while they chat about the day. It’s stress-free and allover wonderful, and it’s hard, if not unfeasible, to picture how anything could ever be better than this.

“This is the best tradition,” Amy says, leaning her head on his shoulder as they watch parents chase their toddlers along the water’s edge, couples walking together and friend groups trying to take pictures in the half-darkness. “I hope we keep this up.”

“We’re definitely keeping it up,” he assures her. “This year was amazing. I already can’t wait for next time.”

She smiles, stroking his hair before beginning to ruffle through her right pocket for something. “Actually, next time might be a bit different.”

“What do you mean? We’re not changing this tradition, are we?”

“No,” she laughs. “We’re not. We’re just… renewing it to keep it interesting. Close your eyes.”

He does, and she instructs him to hold out his hand, so he does that, too.

She places a thin, maybe fifteen or so centimeters long, little plastic stick in his outstretched hand, and his fingers wrap around it.

“Okay, you can open them now.”

“What’s this?”

“You might wanna read the display,” she tells him, and he unfurls his fingers to reveal a digital square and a single, life-changing word.

It takes a moment to sink in.

“No way,” he says when he can tear his eyes away from it, looking up at his wife to find her with what he hopes are happy tears in her eyes. “Are you - is this real, Ames?”

“I have like seven more of them at home,” she blushes. “So yeah, I think so.”

“Oh my _god_.”

“I know.”

“How long have you kept this a secret?”

“I took the first one three days ago,” she admits. “I wanted to tell you the second I found out, but then I remembered this, and I thought… maybe it could be another nice memory for the tradition.”

“It is.” He wraps her in a tight hug, pressing soft kisses to every inch of her face he can reach. “This is… wow. Just, wow.”

“That’s a pretty good summary of it.”

“This is the best visit so far,” he whispers in her ear as she takes the positive pregnancy test from him to put back. “This is the best visit _ever_.”

Life with Amy, and their yearly visits to the Halloween theme park, truly did have one thing in common; they both just kept getting better.

**Author's Note:**

> this may have been the fastest i've ever written a 3k fic, so i apologise if that brought the quality down slightly, but i really wanted for this just to be something cute and fun and i think it manages that pretty well. 
> 
> shoutout to fezzle/drowninginmyworries for inspiring me to add a pregnancy reveal, because god knows it's all i think about with the spoiler leaks we're getting. CAN 2020 COME SOON PLEASE? 
> 
> kudos and comments as always much appreciated! please tell me if you enjoyed the climate change joke. i think elise bauman tweeted it originally and i thought it was too funny, heheh. also, i hate dressing up and going to parties, so i'd totally do it.


End file.
